


A Tale of Two Siblings

by Puph_17



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-10-21 11:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17641523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puph_17/pseuds/Puph_17
Summary: When Lucina asks Cordelia to resolve a conflict between her children, Cordelia is forced to mediate between a conflict that has been brewing for years....... Story contains OCs, AU.





	1. Lucina: Division

Cordelia sifted through the papers sitting on her desk. Being the commander of the Pegasus Knights was quite the busy job and she was always busy. She suddenly heard a knock form her door.

“Just a moment!” she said.

She put her papers down, stood up and opened the door.

“Lady Lucina! How can I help you?” she asked.

“Well……..It’s about Jack and Elena.” Said Lucina.

“Jack and Elena? What about them?

Lucina swallowed. “You know how they aren’t on good terms, right?”

“Yes, there’s quite a bit more hostility between them then I would expect. Would you know what happened?”

Lucina sighed. “That’s…….a long story. And probably better told by them themselves. I was just wondering if you might be able to talk it out with them?”

Cordelia’s brow furrowed. “Is it becoming a problem?”

“Yes……Jack leads the reconnaissance team and Elena leads the cavalry team, and their arguments breed bad blood between the teams. Inigo and Gerome’s fight yesterday, for example.”

Cordelia nodded. “Then I will look into it immediately.”

“Thank you ever so much!” said Lucina with a relieved tone, before quickly turning on her heel and disappearing down a corridor. “I’ll see you later!”

Cordelia noted the future princess’s relief with surprise. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought it would be. But what could it be that would drive a wedge between the two? Their younger counterparts were inseparable. Cordelia squared her shoulders. If her children were at odds with each other, she would eventually need to deal with this. And as her mother had taught her, there was no time like the present. She walked swiftly down the hall. If there was contention in her family, she would settle this once and for all. Her family was not going to be fractured on her watch.


	2. Chapter 2

Cordelia walked briskly through the camp. The fact that her son had been absent from mess for nearly 20 minutes was beginning to worry her. None of his siblings known the cause of his unusual behavior, though Severa had said that it was probably one of Jack’s “projects”, whatever that meant, and had been vague after that. Despite the disturbing fact that Jack’s siblings knew so little about him, Cordelia was beginning to seriously worry about her oldest son. She rounded a tent to see Jack warming several pieces of what looked like really old venison jerky in a frying pan over one of the campfires.

 “Jack!” she called “What are you eating? Why aren’t you at dinner?”

 “Oh, hey mom!” replied Jack casually, “I’m just finishing off the rations I brought with me. There’s a little bit left, and I want to eat it before it goes bad. Wanna help me?”

 Cordelia eyed the pieces of jerky critically. “Jack……these have already gone bad……” she announced.

 “Err….this isn’t bad, mom.” protested Jack.

“They look stale and old. How long have you been carrying this around with you?”

“Umm, a little over four and a half months.” said Jack as Cordelia’s eyes widened, “It’s a shame I can’t get it to last longer. I could feed myself for longer with a single deer on quarter rations if I could just get it to last more than five months!  Hopefully, I can find some better meat preservation techniques.”

 Cordelia gave her son a strange look. “Five months is really pushing it, especially in that backpack of yours,” kicking Jack’s backpack, “By the way, what, do you have in that thing anyway?”

 Jack propped up the backpack he’d been reclining against and began rummaging around in it.

 “Let’s see……got three spare swords, two spare axes, and eight…..no nine new spearheads. Oh, and there’s that bag of backup arrowheads”

 Jack rummaged around some more as Cordelia stared dubiously at the weapons, which were all of particularly low quality.

 “Here’s those four deer hides I’ve been hanging on to, some spare bowstrings, my bear traps, two dozen vulneraries, my sewing kit and extra cloth…….oh! There’s that wolf pelt I thought I lost! Sweet! Uh… what else do I have……. There’s my cooking stuff…….Oh, plus my weapons – the ones I fight with.”

 “How much does that all weigh?” asked Cordelia curiously, surprised that anyone could carry that much around and fight at the same time.

 “Uh…..not sure. Never had time to weigh it, and the weight fluctuates off of what I have in it.”

 Her eyes narrowed as Jack began to poke at the first piece of warmed jerky with a fork that might have been considered barely passable by post-apocalyptic wasteland standards. With the swiftness of a pouncing cat, she knocked the fork from his hand, and grabbed the frying pan with her other hand, wresting it from her son’s grasp, and hastily brushed the rest of the jerky into the fire.

 “Hey!” exclaimed Jack, “What’re you doing! You’re literally taking food from my mouth!”

 “You’re not eating that garbage while I’m here. There’s real food in the mess hall, and you’re going to eat it!”

 “Oh, come on!” protested Jack as he attempted to intercept his mother’s lunge for his backpack, and the last pound of his jerky stash, “I could feed the entire army for a week with stuff like this! Imagine how much money we can save!”

 “We fight for a ROYAL ARMY! While you and your siblings and friends are extra mouths to feed, we can manage! You don’t have to go to such extremes! We aren’t destitute, like……….” She trailed off, as she let go of her grip on Jack’s backpack.

 “Me and Severa before we travelled back to the past.” Finished Jack with a grimace as he took the opportunity to drag his backpack towards himself.

 “I didn’t mean it that way……” hastily explained Cordelia.

 “It’s ok,” muttered Jack, “You don’t have to apologize. Elena never does, and she’s practically your carbon copy.”

 “If Elena was my carbon copy, she’d apologize,” muttered Cordelia wryly. She was not looking forward to the talk she’d eventually need to have with Jack’s twin sister.

 The two sat in awkward silence for a moment. Suddenly, an idea came to Cordelia. She stood up and said “Ok, mister. We’re going to take this to the mess hall and ask everybody what they think of your jerky.”

 Jack scrambled to his feet and pulled out his last pound of jerky.

 “If you insist!”

 Lissa and Maribelle had beheld the “food” in horror, asking why anyone would eat it. Chrom, Robin, Lon’qu, Panne, and Sar’yi had promptly and unanimously declared it unfit for consumption and Robin had even asked why it wasn’t in the garbage already. Gregor had fondly reminisced about how he and a group of his fellow mercenaries got food poisoning from eating jerky that had looked kind of like that before having to fight through a horde of bandits. Vaike glared suspiciously at it, stating that even on the street, he could get fresher food than that. Sully said that it looked like something she’d cooked, as Stahl nodded in agreement. Miriel, the current quartermaster, had immediately rearranged her schedule to open a slot on tomorrow’s itinerary to inspect the rest of the contents of Jack’s backpack.

 Jack sighed and sagged down next to the campfire.

 “I knew it! You guys have been listening to Elena! Of course, Lucina found her before Severa and I.” he grumbled.

 “See, I told you those rations weren’t good.” Said his mother exasperatedly. Seeing her chance, she said “What’s wrong with your sister anyway? You blame her for everything!”

 “I don’t know, maybe because she’s the cause of all my problems? She’s always prattling on about how she’s a real knight, and I’m just an over glorified mercenary, she’s the greatest hero to ever live, and I’m the scum of the earth. She’s always going on about how I’m a waste, and how it’s a miracle I haven’t gotten myself killed yet!”

 “Does she have a point?” asked Cordelia, trying to get a feel for the situation

 “No.” muttered Jack with a roll of his eyes, “After you and Dad were killed, it was just me, Lucina, Gerome and Elena who could fight – everyone else was way too young at the time. Lucina and I ran a lot of raids on the Valmese and Plegian supply convoys – I started as a cavalier, just like her, but when my horse was killed, I reclassed to a myrmidon. That’s when it started. She gave her horse to Edgar to start training him and then became a Pegasus Knight with a stray Pegasus we found. She kept telling me how I was weak because I wasn’t able to protect my mount, like you and Dad taught us, and how I wasn’t doing things like you and dad, and “why did you change, Jack?”

 “Did you change?”

 “Of course, I did! My horse was killed in an ambush! I don’t know what else I was supposed to do about it! I was lucky the arrow didn’t hit me! I changed to adapt to the fact that I didn’t have a horse! Anyway, after some time, Lucina had me reclass to a mercenary to help her hold the front lines better and not put the younger ones in so much danger. With Gerome and Elena mounted, me and Lucina were the only ones on the front lines on the ground. I never liked being up in the front lines though.”

 “Why’s that?” asked Cordelia.

 “It……it was too much like you and Dad.”

 “Is that a problem? Did we do something wrong?”

 “You ran straight into battle. Like, out in the open. No cover, no tactics, no nothing. It got both of you killed. Why would I make the same mistake?”

 “That’s how war is fought – you can’t always be sneaking around in the back, setting bear traps, Jack.”

 Jack reddened at the mention of his favorite, and most frequently mocked method of picking off enemy soldiers. Composing himself, he said,

 “We needed someone to do ground reconnaissance, flank the enemy, and sabotage enemy emplacements in their backlines– Lucina had me leading a lot of covert operations with Severa, Inigo, Owain and Morgan. No conventional knight would be fit for the job, which is why being a mercenary as opposed to a mounted knight like a cavalier is better.”

 “Lucina favored guerilla warfare?”

 “No, not when she had a solid infantry core and a half decent cavalry unit. We’re the reconnaissance unit, remember?  We were just scouts and distractions – someone to attack the flank in a head on battle or to cause chaos before a fight. Or just cause damage behind enemy lines. Like the time we set three of Walhart’s supply fleets on fire in a row the night after they touched shore in Ylisse. Or the time we set Validar’s camp’s stables on fire, and then used the distraction to raid his command tent. He was pretty angry about that one!” Jack laughed, recalling fond memories of him and his crew hastily cramming everything nice they could get their hands on into his backpack whilst tossing very stale bread and ratty spare supplies all over Validar’s regal and fancy command tent.

 “Why were you so aggressive? Were you really that desperate?”

 “Yeah…..Walhart was a madman trying to conquer the world and Validar was a madman set on vengeance, and both wanted control of the same land. We were just the ones caught in the middle of it all. I mean seariously, why am I responsible for something my grandfather did? I wasn’t even born yet! But considering the size of our group, we gave them their money’s worth of a fight. My squad was notorious for hitting enemy supply lines and reinforcements. Actually, the plan to sabotage their supply lines was Laurent’s idea, tactician and all, but we were the ones who carried it out. He really is Grandmaster Robin’s son.”

 Cordelia smiled. The bookwormish son of Robin had undoubtedly inherited his father’s tactical mind, and his mother’s meticulous attention to detail. Father and son would discuss strategy for hours on end if not interrupted.

 “Anyway, the reason Elena hates me is because she’s so stuck on being just like you and dad. I changed to face the challenges at hand, but she didn’t – she actually went out of her way to be just like you guys. She went back to what didn’t work and seems to think it’s an affront to all that is sacred that I’ve adapted to our changing surroundings. I’ve brought value and something that we didn’t have before, and I’ve gotten results! Have I ever told you how we trapped an enemy army of reinforcements in a gorge for three weeks? Or the time I blocked three separate mountain passes simultaneously with a grand total of five people, including myself? Elena hasn’t done any of that! She’s just doing the same thing that didn’t work before!”

 “But what she is doing has worked, right? She’s here and alive, isn’t she?”

 “She has Gerome. He’s always there to bail her out when she goes in too deep. That and he is also a very strong fighter as well, and two powerful fighters instead of just one helps out her cavalry unit a lot. I also think he likes her.” Jack said conspiratorially. “It would explain too much! He takes her side of the argument all the time, and he claims her food is good, even though she’s really bad! And I think she likes him too, but I’m not entirely certain. I’ve been waiting to call her “Dutchess”, but I haven’t had the opportunity to do so yet! Wait, that is Gerome’s dad’s title, right? Duke of somewhere that got conquered by Valm?”

 Cordelia burst out laughing hysterically. “Oh, I’m going to have to tell Cherche this!” she managed to wheeze, “This is too good!”

 Jack grinned, “Just let me be there when you tell her. This is gonna be too good to miss. I’ll bring Severa too, she might just actually smile!”

Cordelia composed herself and sighed. “I’m really going to have to work hard to get you all to get along again. You know, after we picked you up yesterday, Lucina came up to me. She asked me to try and get you two to stop fighting.”

Jack looked surprised. “Lucina asked you that?”

Cordelia nodded. “I know that this is probably not going to be easy for you, but can you give her a second chance? Elena is your twin sister after all, and I’m sure Edgar looks up to you, at least a little bit.”

Jack scowled. “She’s already burned her second chance, and her third and her fourth, and all of the ones after that. And, no matter what I say, Edgar’s just going to listen to her.”

“Just like Severa will only listen to you.”

“Yeah, for good reason too! Elena’s just going to scold her for not becoming a Pegasus knight, and tell her that she is a failure, and ask why she can’t be like Edgar. Who, if you haven’t noticed, is just like Dad! When he gets promoted, he’s going to become a great knight too! There’s no point! I’m the only one who actually cares about her! She’s gone and taken her own path, and Elena’s just trying to shoot her down!”

“Is that so?”

“Duh! At least I got Severa to her way to her full potential. She’s made so much progress. I’m really proud of her and what she’s been able to do!”

“And what about Edgar?”

“I….I just didn’t get to Edgar in time. I was always out on raids, and most of my spare time was spent teaching Severa and trying to help her catch up. I tried to make more time for Edgar, but I was too late…… Elena got to him first. And now he’s Lady I’m So Perfect’s lap dog. And if that’s what he wants now? Well, there’s no point in me trying.” Jack finished bitterly.

“You’re making excuses.” Stated Cordelia flatly. “I saw you yesterday. You held a castle against 100 to 1 odds that anyone else would call impossible. Even Robin and Laurent were nervous about engaging! We might not even have attacked that hoard of enemies to rescue you if Lucina wasn’t so insistent! Why did you give up?”

“Elena. She already convinced him of her way and that nothing else is good enough. There was no point. She filled his head with all sorts of nonsense, of how he had to hold up your legacy or something, by going and doing exactly what got you and Dad killed. I, on the other hand, chose to preserve the legacy – to protect the royalty of Ylisse with tactics that actually work. It’s not all glorious charges and last stands. Sometimes, you have to get your hands dirty and get stuff done!”

Cordelia sighed. “Is it too much for a mother to ask for her children to get along?

Jack rolled his eyes. “In this family, yes. You have Elena to thank for that. She’s just not reasonable.”

“No, it’s you too, mister. Have you ever tried to get along with her?”

“Yeah! And she just keeps on being stubborn!”

Cordelia deflated internally. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought, and she also had a sinking suspicion that Jack hadn’t been the most reasonable either.  

“Well, I’m going to talk with your sister. I’m going to hear her side, and then I will decide what to do. I expect you to meet me at the well at 9:00 sharp tomorrow to hear my decision.”

Jack shrugged. “Go ahead! You’ll see.”

“Oh, I will.”

There was a tense silence.

“Honey, whatever I decide, know that I will always love you.” Said Cordelia. “No matter who is in the right or wrong. No matter what happens to you, or what you’ve gone through. You will always be my son. Just like Elena will always be my daughter, and Edgar will always be my son, and Severa will always be my daughter.”

“Even if Severa ends up dating Inigo?”

“I heard that!” came an indignant bellow from across the campground, as the mercenary in question came strolling into view.

“Oh dear. They’ve sent someone to come looking for us.” Said Cordelia stood up. “Why don’t you go eat some real food? I need to talk to your sister.”

Jack sighed and pulled himself to his feet. “Ok. Just don’t get your hopes up.”

Cordelia smiled. “I’m sure she cares for you deep down.”

“Yeah”, grumbled Jack sarcastically, “Really deep and really far down. She’s got a funny way of showing it.”

Cordelia sighed. This was going to be much more difficult than she had thought. But all four of her children had come from the future and were all warriors to be proud of, despite their varied personalities, despite their apocalyptic future, despite their awful relationships with each other. And if that could happen, she could put her fractured family back together, piece by piece. Now, to find Elena… ****

* * *

**Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story!**

 


	3. Chapter 3

Elena pulled the hair out from the brush in her hand and turned back to her Pegasus. It had been a few days since she’d had the opportunity to groom her mount, and she would not lose such an important opportunity to maintain the bond between her and her Pegasus, even if she had to rush eating her dinner. The sun was beginning to set, and a gentle breeze wafted into the part of camp where the animals had been stationed for the night, bringing with it, the scent of fresh, clean air for a brief moment before the stench of animals overpowered it again. She stood up and stretched her stiff legs. As she walked briskly around her father’s horse to the barrel of oats to feed her Pegasus, she rushed straight into another body, and crashed to the ground. Scrambling to her feet, and she began to apologize when she saw who she’d hit.

“Mother! Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t see you!” she said as she scrambled to her feet, bowing her head.

“Ugh….” groaned Cordelia as she pulled herself to her feet. “Caught a face full of the brush.”

“Agh! I’m sorry! Here, let me help you to a stool!” fussed Elena as she took her mother to one of the stools upon she had just been sitting.

“I’m fine, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me,” said Cordelia as she sat down. “I’ve been looking for you, where have you been?”

“Oh, I’ve been grooming Marius!” said Elena matter of factly. “It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance. What do you need?”

Cordelia took a deep breath. Elena frowned.

“What’s wrong, Mother?”

“Two days ago, we picked up Jack.”

Elena’s frown deepened.

“Yes, what about him?”

“When we got back to the barracks, Lucina took me to the side and asked to speak with me. She told me that you two have had some …… differences.”

“Yes…….one could say that,” said Elena uneasily.

“I want to hear your side of the story. I’ve already talked to Jack…..

“You talked to him first!?” asked Elena, shocked.

“Yes, I did,” said Cordelia evenly.  

 “Why?! You didn’t actually listen to him, did you?”

“I gave him a fair chance. Now, you get your chance. Tell me, why do you hate your brother so much?”

Elena rolled her eyes.

“Where do I even begin?” she muttered.

“Ok, Jack says you take issue with his fighting style. Why’s that?” asked Cordelia.

“It’s a mess, that’s why! He’s got no direction, no purpose, no nothing! He’s always resorting to dirty tactics to make up for the fact that he likes to go hide and destroy the entire landscape instead of actually fighting the enemy and prefers to run before he draws his sword! And don’t get me started on his bear traps!”

“Well…..Ok, I don’t have anything for his bear traps – I’ll admit – I don’t know he catches anyone with those things, but you saw the trapped soldiers in yesterday’s battle. They work…….somehow! Beside that, he seemed to be handling himself well when we picked him up yesterday. He was literally fighting four armies with just his little group! His tactics at least work!”

“That’s because he’s always running away and he finally got himself caught out! He’s lucky we were there to bail him out! He won’t take anyone on in a fair fight! I’ve seen him use every dirty trick in the book! He has no chivalry and is totally unfit to be any sort of soldier, let alone a leader. Lucina sent him and his little group of idiots to try and slow down a group of Plegian reinforcements. Do you know what he did?”

“I haven’t heard this one. What did he do?”

“He lured them to a mountain range in the MIDDLE OF WINTER, and somehow started an avalanche to sweep them away!”

“That…..actually sounds very effective.”

“It took him nearly a month to pull it off due to how cold it was. If he would have just mustered up a little courage and planned a proper ambush, he could have slowed down the reinforcements and been back to Ylisstol in time to help hold the outer walls, which we COULD have held if he’d only SHOWN UP! But no, he goes off going for the glory and because of that, we had to abandon the outer walls, and fall back to the castle. You know what the best part is? Because they spent so much time gallivanting around the countryside, they were stuck OUTSIDE the castle for the entirety of the siege! His group was useless!”

“Didn’t they do anything to help?”

“Oh, sure, they SAID that they hit the supply lines. They flooded Valestone too, while they were at it.”

“They flooded VALESTONE!?” asked Cordelia in horror, thinking of the peaceful trading village.

“Yup! They busted the dam, right on top of the town. It’s nearly 20 feet under water in our timeline. And all because of Jack.”

“But why did he flood an entire city? Valestone is a big city! What about the people living there?”

“Oh, there were conveniently no civilians left, just a bunch of Plegian soldiers. So, he busts the dam and flooded them out. Well, that’s what he said. Not that there’s anyone to verify that other than the Moron Brigade, mind you.”

“One of those “morons” is also your little sister. You shouldn’t call her that. Also, I can’t imagine him just flooding a city with civilians in it……..” said Cordelia. “Jack doesn’t seem like the careless type……. but why the need to destroy the town?”

“Well, the Plegians were using it as a base to attack to Ylisstol…..not that he ever thought that we would have NEEDED IT LATER! And when we did, do you know what he suggested?”

 “I have to hear this.”

“Houseboats! And a floating city to go along with it! And do you know what the worst thing about it was? It actually partially worked!”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“We wouldn’t be in the predicament if he hadn’t just WASHED AWAY AN ENTIRE TOWN! If he’d had a whit of foresight, he wouldn’t have just destroyed one of Ylisse’s most important trading centers! That, and it was the arrival of the Valmese who lifted the siege of Ylisstol and gave us enough time to escape the city by driving off the Plegians! Jack did nothing but hurt us! And then, in the middle of the fighting between the Valmese and Plegians, while we were trying to fight our way out of the city to escape, they come in and set fire in the enemy camp which got out of control, and we had to run straight through it! He got lucky that it didn’t do more damage because of a sudden rainstorm! Of course, he said that the rainstorm was part of the plan! As if he knows exactly what the weather is going to do! He’s reckless and cowardly, and the only reason he leads anything is because there’s literally no one else! He follows no protocol, never coordinates, and doesn’t think of anyone else! He’s always making calls on the fly that aren’t his to make!”

“Don’t you think you’re being too harsh on him? He couldn’t contact Lucina from where he was. He was probably doing his best with what he had. Just like Valestone. If the Plegians set up a command center in Valestone, Jack probably had good reason to just destroy everything, especially since he has only himself and four other people to rely on against what must be thousands of soldiers. He’s probably the reason the Valmese were able to drive out the Plegians if they were as entrenched in as you make them out to be by putting their forward supply depot in a lake. Or bringing the lake to the supply depot in this case. He’s just working with what he’s got,” reasoned Cordelia.

“Which leads us to a new point. He has nothing to work with. He’s more of a mercenary than a soldier, and he’s even taken Severa down that path too! He’s even affected the other members of his Moron Brigade with his mindset!”

“Who else is on his squad?”

“Inigo, Owain, and Morgan. At least it’s mostly the idiots of the army. But still, they could probably be turned into half decent knights if they would just try!”

“You’re saying that they’re purposefully acting unlike soldiers?”

“Yes! They operate more like a group of bandits than a group of knights! Militaries are built the way they are for a reason! Cavalry for open areas. Armor Knights to hold positions. Archers to attack from range. Pegasus Knights to attack from the sky. Soldiers for their power in numbers. And here comes Jack, thinking he’s all great, and makes a mockery of everything! He claims he’s adapting to the changing times but what we have already works! He claims to have filled a role that we needed, when all we ACTUALLY needed was a squad of Soldiers and Archers to do what he does!”

“It seems to have worked.”

“No! It hasn’t! It’s given him this reckless “I’m some hero” mindset, and he’s become some sort of mix between a mercenary and a common bandit! Did he ever tell you about how he “looted” Validar’s command tent?”

“Yes, I have. He was quite proud of it.”

“Figures.”

“Speaking of which, Jack mentioned that you were always very hard on Severa. Why was that?”

“She has a legacy to uphold, just like the rest of us! I can’t just let her slack off!”

“But from what Jack said, she never did well with a lance, or with a Pegasus. Perhaps she just lacked the talent?”

“Impossible! I can’t believe that the daughter of two of the greatest knights of their era could have no talent with the lance! I just couldn’t get her to overcome the initial hurdles of lance use before Jack went and filled her head with busting dams, starting fires, and general property damage! But no, he just goes and turns her into a vandal! Is that a good purpose for one’s life? Because that’s what Jack’s purpose is, and now it’s Severa’s too! Wanton damage and deluded glory!”

“Well what’s your purpose in life?”

“To serve my lady and restore the kingdom of Ylisse! Well, to prevent Ylisse’s destruction along with the rest of the world, now, instead of restoring the kingdom, now that we’re in the past.”

“And that’s not Jack’s purpose too?”

“No! He’s probably just back so he can destroy Castle Plegia and Castle Valm again!”

“He did WHAT!?”

“Oh yeah, he never told you? After we’d killed both Validar and Walhart and Validar’s dark monsters started taking over, it turned out that Validar had somehow conjured a giant war dragon he called Grima. Jack made it his personal mission to kill the thing with the maximum amount of property damage he could cause! He brought Castle Plegia, Castle Valm, and Castle Ylisstol all down on Grima in “the hopes of killing it”!” Elena said while attempting to impersonate Jack’s voice. “Do you know what actually killed it?”

“What?” asked Cordelia, curious as to what could kill a dragon that could survive the collapse of three separate castles on top of it.

“Lady Cynthia and I threw javelins with balls of lead on the tips into its mouth, until it suffocated and died! The heroism and courage of two knights did what a team of cowards could not!”

“Wow…….I’m really proud of you, Elena! Not many Pegasus knights would have the courage to attack an abomination like that. You truly are a great Pegasus knight!”

“Only because of you, mother.”

“I assume I taught you to become a knight?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And your father taught Jack become a cavalier alongside you, but his horse was killed?”

“Yes! He didn’t follow proper protocol! And then he goes off and learns a bunch of useless skills. Like making whistles with grass! He technically does everything and nothing at the same time!”

“So…. a Jack of all trades? Literally?”

“I guess…..”

“So how does such a wide skillset mean that he is a disgrace?”

“I’ve performed all of the duties of a Pegasus Knight, just like you did! I scouted in dangerous weather, rescued civilians and wounded, led charges, everything! I’m doing all the work, while Jack is just gallivanting around causing property damage and setting up pointlessly elaborate traps to do the job of simply attacking the enemy! He’s a disgrace because he’s a coward! He’s a disgrace to himself, a disgrace to Lady Lucina, a disgrace to me, and a disgrace to you and father! Who would have thought that the son of Sir Fredrick the Wary and Lady Cordelia the Galeforce would turn out the way he has!”

“It’s all about me?”

“Yes, it is! You were everything I aspired to! Father was everything I aspired to! You two were everything Jack aspired to! And then you and Father get killed in battle, he goes and throws it all away, and I’m the only one left!

Elena’s rant ended abruptly as she broke into tears. Cordelia nodded as she hugged her sobbing daughter. Now she understood. But one thing remained unclear.

“So, if Jack is as you say, then why does Lady Lucina keep him around?”

“She likes him,” was the blunt reply. “I can tell.”

Cordelia started laughing.

“What’s so funny? She likes HIM of all people! A vagabond who would bring shame and ruin upon the royal house of Ylisse!

“Why, if you succeed, you won’t have to worry about that!” said Cordelia with a knowing look.

“Why’s that?” asked Elena, confused.

“You’ll be a noblewoman in a faraway land with a handsome, masked noble!”

Elena immediately reddened.

“I……I…….”  
“It’s ok to have feelings, honey. You’re not just a solder. You can’t just ignore the rest of yourself.”

“But I can’t! Lady Lucina needs me!”

“Lucina is your friend, just as Chrom and Sumia are my friends,” said Cordelia, intentionally dropping the “Lord” and “Lady” prefixes. “I’m sure that she won’t mind if you take some time off for yourself. You must strike your balance between work and……time off. I used to be just like you….” she said with a faraway look in her eyes.

“Really?” asked Elena.

“Yes. It was a few years ago, just after Sumia and Chrom got married. I’d planned the wedding for them, and was also taking over as the Pegasus Knight Commander. I was working 17 hour days every day of the week, training new recruits, leading missions, and starting a Pegasus breeding program.”

Elena’s eyes practically sparkled with admiration.

“How did you do it?”

“I didn’t. I burned out after eight months.”

“What!?”

“I burned out. I never took a moment to stop and take care of myself. I ended up getting very sick for three weeks and being really depressed for two months after that. Lady Sumia actually told me she thought it was a miracle that I lasted as long as I did.”

“But!”

“Honey. You’re on the same path that I was. You’re approximately where I was before I got promoted. Always working hard, and the pinnacle of knighthood, but never taking a moment to take care of myself, unless it was an aspect important for my job.”

“But you did so well! My Pegasus came from that program! The Pegasus knights were able to stave off absolutely and impossibly overwhelming odds for years! It was a success!”

“It nearly killed me,” said Cordelia flatly, “Sumia covered for me while I was sick. I was never so mortified in my life. What kind of knight makes her queen do her job because she was unserviceable for nearly three months?”

There was an awkward silence.

“Why did you never tell me?”

“I can’t answer for my future self, but ..... I would imagine that I knew that you looked up to me, and I didn’t want to ruin your image of me. You obviously looked up to me greatly, and I probably wanted you to aspire to be an even better knight than I was.”

“But you were perfection! It took three armies just to kill you and father! You were unstoppable!”

“Honey, I’ve never been perfect, and never will be. And neither will you. But because of that, you will always be able to improve yourself. Just as I always have.”

Cordelia smiled, and ruffled her daughter’s hair, as she hastily attempted to swat her hand away.

“Don’t worry! As Jack said, you’re basically the same as me. I know what I’m doing when it comes to you.”

Elena rolled her eyes.

“At least he got something right!”

Cordelia sighed internally. “Well, I haven’t decided what to do with you two just yet. Why don’t you go and enjoy the rest of your night? I can take watch over for you tonight. I’m sure I’ll have quite a bit to think about.”

“I…..ok. Just don’t listen too much to that moron, please!” said Elena as she walked out of the stables.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Cordelia as she internally rejected the idea. She stood up off the stool, stretched, and relaxed for a minute. She turned on her heel and walked off to think.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Cordelia took a deep breath and stepped into the stables. Against one side, Jack leaned against one of the posts, next to his backpack. On the other side, Elena stood, back straight. She walked up to them. It had taken her quite a while and a near sleepless night to decide upon what she should do. She’d talked to Fredrick, Sumia and Robin, mulling over her options. She looked back to Fredrick, who was standing just around the corner, out of sight of Jack and Elena. He nodded at her with a smile. She smiled back and stepped forward.

“And the verdict is?” asked Jack.

“Yes, what have you decided?” asked Elena.

Cordelia smiled.

“Well, you two have certainly caused me enough trouble. I got no sleep last night trying to figure out what to do about you two! But figure it out I did.”

“So, what have you decided?” asked Elena.

“Yeah, before Elena pulls all of her hair out,” said Jack

“Hey!

“Stop it you two. I have decided that I’m going to have you two train together. For two soldiers fighting on the same side of a conflict in such a small group, you have remarkably little camaraderie. We will start there. You don’t have to like each other, but at least accept the other’s presence, ok? Maybe respect the skill of the other a little bit too? You’re siblings, for crying out loud. We will also cover the tactical side of things later on – you two could learn a lot of things from each other if you would just stop butting heads.”

“What about sparring, mother?” asked Elena, “It will help accentuate Jack’s inferior style, and promote change.”

“Oh please, I could beat you with my bare hands! I don’t need a weapon!” grumbled Jack.

“No, we won’t have that. Somebody might get hurt with all of the bad blood between you two. No, you will train side by side, under _me_.”

Jack shrugged. “Whatever, I can deal with that. I’ll have plenty of time to take breaks while I wait for Pegasus Princess to catch up. I’m used to legging it!”

Elena just sniffed, “I’m afraid you’ll find that running for your life won’t be able to outpace a knight determined on victory! I don’t need a Pegasus to out speed you, rat trapper!”

Cordelia groaned, “Will you two just _STOP_ arguing?”

“I’m not arguing mom, I’m trying to explain to Elena why I’m right!” said Jack.

“Mother, how can you stand it when Jack is……”started Elena.

Jack narrowed his eyes and hastily said, “Elena, stop!”

Elena glared at him. “Why!? Too pathetic to……” she cut herself off mid-sentence.

Cordelia was smiling at them, with a menacing look on her face.

“You see that look in her eye? She always has that look when we’re in trouble! You of all people should know that!” hissed Jack.

“Oh, you’re not in trouble,” said Cordelia, maintaining her smile.

“We don’t believe you!” said Elena, now beginning to panic.

Cordelia suddenly burst out laughing.

“What was that about?!” growled Jack, “You ticked her off even more! Good job!”

“It was nothing! What did you say?!” sputtered Elena back.

“I said nothing either! Why do you always have to mess up?”

“Screw up? You’re the one who can’t do anything right!”

Cordelia composed herself. “Who would have thought it would have taken the slightest bit of intimidation from dear old Mom to set you two straight!”

The twins sputtered in response.

“But honestly, you’re not in trouble. I thought it was funny with how easy it was to get you two to work together!”

The two froze.

“You’re just like your younger selves now. You don’t know how to deal with having an angry mother, so you default back to what you used to do as children. Just as your younger selves do now. Fredrick, dear? Can you execute Plan B?”

Fredrick turned around the corner, holding the hands of the much younger current timeline Jack and Elena.

“And since your younger selves are here, why don’t you explain to them why you hate each other so much?”

Fredrick let go of the two children’s hands, and they rushed towards the older Jack and Elena with tears in their eyes and a flurry of questions.

“Why do you hate Jack!?”

“Why do you hate Elena?!”

“I’m telling Lady Lucina! She’ll order you to be friends!”

“Yeah! You have to obey her! She’s a princess you know!”

“We’ll get Miss Maribelle to put you in time out!”

“We will! I’m serious!”

“She’s scary you know!”

As Elena and Jack attempted to calm their younger selves, Severa and Edgar watched from afar.

“You say nothing to Mom about anything that happened in the past with not agreeing on stuff, got it?” said Severa.

Edgar nodded emphatically. “You got it.”


End file.
